Three Times Peeta Proposed
by FlyingMockingjay56
Summary: And the one time she said yes. AU.


three times peeta mellark proposed to katniss, and the one time she said yes. each time can be viewed as a one shot. warning: mild foul language

* * *

When the words slipped out of his mouth, Peeta didn't know what made him say it. Maybe it was the scent of her vanilla shampoo, or the way her silver eyes shone in the dim kitchen light, or how her laugh made his heart soar. Maybe it was how when the words, "Will you marry me," came out of his 23 year old mouth, she seemed less surprised than he did.

Katniss gently put down the dish and looked at him with a smirk as his cheeks turned tomato red and his jaw hung open. "Excuse me, Peeta Mellark, did you just propose to me while doing the dishes?" She asked, almost bemused.

He started to stutter, wiping his wet hands on his pants. "N-n-no?" She raised her eyebrow. "I-I-I I mean yes? Fuck, I did not mean to say that," he cursed, under his breath.

"So you don't want to marry me?" She challenged, shutting off the water. She didn't sound hurt, she didn't sound angry, only a little confused and mostly amused. Which only made Peeta love her more.

"Katniss, you know how much I love you," he started. And she knew.

They met their freshman year of college at Penn State - he was a polysci major, she was an environmental law major. He couldn't keep her eyes off of her from the second she entered the lecture room. He was mesmerized by the way her braid swung back and forth as she walked, the way she licked her lips before she spoke, and how she would chew on her pen before answering a question. He had grown quite accustomed, and frankly, quite comfortable with the view of the back of her head when she cornered him after class one day to ask why he kept staring.

She must have been able to decipher the words he awkwardly spewed out because the next thing he knew, they were on a date and suddenly four years later he was standing in their shitty downtown apartment washing dishes and asking her to marry him.

"I know," she said, wiping the suds off her hands with a towel. He loved her. He really did. She kept him on his toes, always smiling, laughing, smirking. He felt like he was constantly chasing her, but he didn't mind. It was worth it. _She_ was worth it.

The pair settled into a pregnant pause. She knew she was supposed respond, and say something, say anything. He was starting to rub the back of his neck the same way he did when he got nervous. But she decided to let him sweat it.

She loved the way he looked at her, his big blue eyes always trying to read into her grey ones. She loved the way he slept with his windows open in the winter, giving him an excuse to hook his legs over hers and pull her close; or how he would try and crack jokes when they were up at 4 AM in the campus library studying for finals. She really loved the way he would do anything for her - like knocking out his brother when he called her trash at Christmas, or taking her sister to prom when she didn't have a date.

They were Katniss and Peeta. Peeta and Katniss.

She had never dreamed of being a trophy wife with a white wedding and crying babies. Her whole life had been spent making sure her sister had the greatest life she could afford to give, taking on all responsibilities to herself. Peeta brought happiness back into her life, showing her that not everything had to be about Prim.

She knew, from the moment she brought him home to her dysfunctional family and he loved them almost as much as he loved her, that he was the one. He knew it too. Thats why when she said, "I'm not going to marry you Peeta," he gripped the kitchen counter so hard his knuckled turned white.

"What?" He cried, stepping back from her. He needed air. He couldn't breathe. Had he misread every single step of their relationship? He hadn't meant to ask her like this, but he was definitely planning on it.

"Let me finish," she said, stepping towards him. "I'm not going to marry you right now. When you propose, I'd rather not be wearing sweatpants and glasses." He managed to take a breath, nodding at her. "But let's be real. We're shit broke. You're going to grad-school and I'm going to law school. Getting married is not part of the picture right now."

He released the counter, but still looked disappointed at her rejection. "Alright, I understand. Someday," he sighed.

She clutched him tightly, the two swaying in their place. "But you're it for me, so don't worry. When I'm old and wrinkly and can't remember what year it is, you'll be sitting right there next to me. And you know what? I can't wait."

* * *

When he saw her, he wasn't even sure it was her. She walked right past him in the frozen foods isle, her hair no longer plaited into one braid down her back. It now surrounded her face like a brown halo, wild and free, just like her. He must have not been hidden very well behind the freezer door because she did a double take in his direction and exclaimed, "Peeta Mellark?"

He thanked god for the cool air blowing into his face because he was sure that he would have been bright red otherwise.

"Catching me staring at you? Wow it feels like I'm back in the 5th grade," he joked, walking towards her. He was unsure if he should go for a handshake or a hug, but was slightly relieved when she opened her arms wide.

Unconsciously, he sniffed her hair and was slightly thrown off when it no longer smelled like strawberries and pomegranates, instead of soil and pine trees. That wasn't the only thing that changed about her - there were crows feet at the corner of her eyes, lipstick on her lips, and on her finger, a big fat diamond ring and a gold band to match. He pretended not to notice.

She gave him a once over, eyes ghosting over the person who she once thought was the love of her life. His disheveled hair, three-day old t-shirt, sweatpants and flip flops were a somewhat accurate description of his life. He shifted his weight, feeling uncomfortable.

"Wow! Crazy seeing you here, god. So how are you?" She asked, moving the pack of frozen vegetables to her basket. One thing was the same - her beautiful voice, which allowed every word to come out as sing-songy, whether she meant it or not.

"I'm good, I'm good. Life is.. Life," he said with a sigh. He didn't really know how to explain how he was 29 and still single, when she had gotten out, lived, gotten married.

"Are you visiting for the holidays?" She asked innocently. The grocery store around them was decorated with little flickering lights, and small reindeer. It was snowing outside, which Peeta knew if he didn't get out soon it would be dangerous to drive at night.

He looked at her with confusion. "No, actually. I still live here. I took over the bakery a couple of months ago, none of my brothers really wanted it."

"You didn't get out of this shit town?" She exclaimed in disbelief. Panem was a little town in upstate New York with a little under two thousand people. Most people stayed, marrying straight out of high school and living blocks away from where they grew up. A handful of people were lucky enough to get scholarships and go to college out of town, only coming back for thanksgiving and christmas, if they came back at all.

"Didn't quite manage it."

She shook her head. "God, Peeta. I don't know what I would have done if I hadn't gotten out," she said. _You would have been married to me_, he thought bitterly to himself. And it was a fair assumption for him to make.

Katniss and Peeta were destined to be married from the womb. Her mother and his father were best friends from high school, and before his mother developed her deep dislike for the blonde Everdeen, promised their children would be the same.

When they were seven, he grabbed her in the courtyard with his small chubby fingers and pressed his lips on hers. She punched him in the face, earning her time-out for the rest of the week. He sat with her in the corner of the playground every day that week, trying to get his right hook as good as hers.

When they were fourteen and she got rejected by the most popular boy in school, Katniss skipped her afternoon classes to cry in the alcove behind the school. When Peeta found out, he skipped his classes and went straight to her hiding spot. As he held her while she cried, her promised her over and over again he would marry her and she would never cry like that again.

That day they became inseparable, sharing their first kiss at 15 and giving themselves to the other at 16. Any time she touched him, he threatened to propose marriage to her right then and there.

They were going to get out. They were going to get out together - she got a scholarship to Binghamton, and he had saved up enough money from teaching wrestling to the elementary school kids.

But then his dad got sick, and his mother's words rang through his head. _"Your father needs someone to take care of him. Bram and Rye are already out of the house, married. If you chose that seam brat over your father, don't bother coming back_." And he couldn't do that. No matter how much he loved her - and he did, he really did - he couldn't leave the man who raised him.

He knew he couldn't make her stay either. So he let her go. And watching her leave almost broke his heart, because he knew. He knew she was the only one for him, and that he would never love anyone as much as her.

What really killed him, standing with her in a grocery store 10 years later, was how she had changed in every single way, he had stayed the same. And it was absolutely pathetic.

He gave her a half smile. "Well you haven't missed much, Panem hasn't really changed. Great seeing you," he said with an attempt to end the painful conversation.

She snapped back into reality, returning the semi-smile. "Oh yeah, I guess I should get going. Gale wants to get out before the snow piles up, and Riley gets anxious when her mommy is away for a long time." His heart sunk, but he knows he should have expected it. Why wouldn't she be married with a kid? She left this town for bigger and better horizons, and she found it.

She turned around, walking down the isle when he called out her name. "Yeah?" She said, turning to face him.

"Will you marry me?" He shouted to her. He prayed he would get the joke, say something back. She had to know how he felt, and those were the only words he could think to express it.

She bit her lip, a million emotions running across her face. The emotion she settled on was one between pity and nostalgia. "I'm sorry Peeta," she started, the same way she did in high school. "Ask me again later."

* * *

"No, No, No, Katniss. Don't do this, don't fucking do this!" He shouted, trying to block the entrance to their house. She ducked under his arm, a box of her belongings in her arms.

"I'm sorry Peeta," she repeated through a stream of tears. And she was. She really, really was.

"Then why are you leaving me? C'mon Katniss," he groaned, following her into the rain. She was stuffing the box into her Jeep, a present from Peeta for when he missed their five year anniversary. "I'll get you anything you want. A new car? A new house? I'll give you anything in the world if you please just stay," he pleaded.

She turned around to look at him, the tears coming harder. "That is exactly the reason why I can't do this anymore!" She shouted, throwing her hands in the air.

"You're leaving me because I want to provide for you?" He said, almost in disbelief that those words would come out of her mouth.

"No!" She screamed, pushing past him again to get inside. She didn't care if she was tracking in mud on their fancy carpet in their fancy home. She just wanted to get away from there; away from him. "Peeta don't you get it? You try and buy me off! You miss everything in my life, and you think that I'll forget about it with a new pair of shoes, or a new purse. If you think I'd be happy with that, you clearly are less in touch with me than you think."

"Then why didn't you say anything?" He asked, becoming more frustrated as she shoved handfuls of clothes into a suitcase.

"Because every single fucking time we try to discuss anything, we end up fighting!" Her shouts had some truth to it. Everything in their life had gone downhill when Mellark's bakery started to blow up. He began working longer hours, eventually opening up chain stores across the country. While the business had made him very rich, it made him very distant. When he did get back home to Katniss it was late, and he was too tired to deal with any problems they had.

"Look, I'm sorry," he apologized his tone softening. She halted in her packing, but quickly shook her head and resumed. "I want to make it up to you - we can go to counseling, I can cut back on my hours - I want to make this work."

She brushed past him regardlessly, marching back into the cold rain. "I'm sorry too but I've made my decision," she said quietly.

He slammed the trunk door shut in anger. "Are you kidding me? After everything we had, you're still going to leave?" She refused to look him in the eye. "Remember the dark days? How you couldn't get out of bed for weeks straight?"

"Don't do this Peeta, don't go there," she begged. The rain started to come down harder, but neither of them made any motion to move.

"Do you remember what you asked me? Do you?" She didn't respond. "God damn it Katniss, answer me!" He shouted.

"I asked you to stay," she sniffled.

"And I said always. But I guess it didn't extend both ways," he said solemnly. His back hunched, he turned to go back inside the house.

She ran after him, and grabbed his arm to face her. "Don't you see it? This is the reason why I'm leaving. We bring out the worst in each other. I don't like the person I am when I'm around you. And I think you realized it too, because we've been dating for almost 7 years and you haven't proposed yet."

He looked at her with his arms crossed and eyebrows raised. "Is that it? You think I don't love you because I haven't proposed yet?" She nodded slowly. "Katniss Everdeen, will you marry me?" He shouted into the air, his tone bitter.

She wrapped her arms around herself, the tears flowing freely once again. "I love you Peeta, but love isn't always enough. I'm sorry." With that, she turned around and headed back to her car.

Peeta stood there on his stoop in the rain long after she left. His nosy neighbor Effie shouted at him to get back inside before he caught pneumonia, but that didn't stop him. He just let the love of his life slip through his fingers, and he didn't do a damn thing about it.

* * *

Before this one, Katniss had cried every year on her birthday. So when she woke up on the morning of May 12th, she wasn't really expecting much. Peeta, on the other hand, had plans of his own.

She rolled over, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes when she found empty space next to her instead of her boyfriend. She almost called out his name, until she caught a wiff of the air. She got out of bed and followed the smell to the kitchen, where Peeta was standing in front of the stove. She wrapped her arms around him, pressing her cheek into his back.

"Happy birthday," he said, spinning around to face her. She wrinkled her nose at the mention, but accepted his embrace regardless.

"Don't remind me," she mumbled. "Today is just a normal Saturday, I don't want anything special."

"Not even pancakes?" He questioned, stepping away to reveal a stack on the counter. He took the bacon from the frying pan and emptied it on a plate, raising his eyebrows.

"Mmmm," she hummed, stealing a piece. "I'll allow it," she proclaimed between chews.

The pair settled into their weekend routine; Peeta making the coffee for her and getting the newspaper for him, and Katniss setting the table and feeding their lazy dog. They made small conversation during breakfast - from "Don't forget we have Prim's graduation next week," and "We've got to decide if we're going to Nantucket with Rye and his wife," to "Stop feeding the dumb dog, he's getting fat," - but mostly, they reveled in the comfortable silence they shared.

He occasionally stole glances at her over his newspaper as she sipped her coffee, smiling to himself. She scowled. "What?"

He looked away from her questioning glance, returning his attention back to the sports section. "How old are you today again?" He obviously knew how old she was - 27 - but he liked bothering her anyway.

She rolled her eyes, he smiled.

Eventually he sat his paper down on the table, and stood up to stretch. He turned to the hallway. "Where are you going?" She asked.

"It's a big, big, day!" He said, imitating Katniss' aunt. She laughed. "I've got lots of stuff to do. You said you don't want anything special, I'm not doing anything special."

"I'll come with you."

"To the shower or to run errands?" He questioned with a smirk.

"Both," she said suggestively. He licked his lips - today was going to be a good day.

As she sat in a corner table of the bakery watching Peeta interact with customers, dazzling each one, she thought of her 8th birthday. Her dad and mom had thrown her the greatest Transformers birthday party. There were streamers, games and even a person dressed up as Optimus Prime interacting with the kids. She was having the greatest time - it was much better than last year when Prim was the center of attention, everybody fawning over her.

Until she spotted Cato pushing her baby sister down. And that's when she got angry. She remembered storming over to him, yelling and screaming. She was about to shove him the same way he shoved Prim when she felt her father close his arms around her and take her away, kicking and screaming. When he started to scold her, thats when the tears started to roll down her cheeks, fat and warm. Mr. Everdeen hugged his eldest daughter, warning her that it was always better to fight with her words.

"Ready to go?" Peeta asked, waking Katniss from her day dream. She nodded, offering her half eaten pastry to him. He accepted it gratefully, taking a large bite of his own work.

"Where to next?" She questioned, grabbing his hand.

"Well I've got to go get my hair cut."

She smiled, running a hand through his waves. "You are looking a little scruffy," she remarked.

He rolled his eyes, but her quick remarks and little observations never failed to make him smile. "So after a haircut, I've got to go pick up stuff from the cleaners, then we can catch diner at my house. Sound good?"

"Sounds perfect."

She was more than content sitting in a corner and watching Peeta get his hair scrubbed and cut, but that didn't stop him from trying to talk to her. "So why do you hate your "day-that-shall-not-be-named," so much anyway?" He asked.

She sighed at the memory. "All of my birthdays that I can remember have been less than pleasant. I think the worst was my 15th birthday, when all my friends ditched me."

"Ditched you? Katniss Everdeen?" He said in mock disbelief.

"I wasn't exactly prom queen, unlike you Mr. Star quarterback. Ugh it makes me cringe to even think about it," she remarked. That didn't stop the images from floating into her mind.

Ms. Everdeen had spent all day baking a cake, tidying up the house for Katniss' 'fancy dinner party birthday.' She remembered she had saved up for months to buy a new dress and shoes to wear for the day - she thought it was brilliant. Prim had promised to stay in her room, and her mother had agreed to serve pasta and chocolate cake to Katniss and her group of friends. But they never showed up. The cake and pasta went uneaten, and she ended up in her room crying herself to sleep.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want," he offered after realizing her state of distress. "Even though you refuse to celebrate it, I don't want you to be unhappy today."

Looking at him, she smiled wide. God, was she lucky to have him.

As the pair stood together on the crowded bus, she was glad for an excuse to push herself into him, and he was glad the day had gone off flawlessly. It was almost 6, and they were on their way back to his apartment from the dry cleaners. As she craned her neck up to look at him, he pecked her on the lips.

"Do you want to hear an almost funny birthday story?" She offered.

He almost scoffed. "Of course I do."

"My 21st birthday was probably the funniest, but the worst for me. Gale, Finnick, Madge and I went out for dinner and drinks, which sounds fun but ended up being so bad. I'd been drinking since like 15 so it shouldn't have been a big deal, but I got so drunk I couldn't even _see_. Finnick ended up having to peel me off some scary stranger who I had become weirdly attracted to, and carry me home. Which is when I demanded he carry me on his back after I had vomited in a trash can. Once he brought me to his house I told him I loved him and started to cry when he told me I was just drunk. God, that was so embarrassing and he _still_ brings it up anytime we go back to that bar."

"Finnick? Really?" he laughed. "I didn't know you had a thing for the Hercules types."

She playfully rolled her eyes, stepping on her toes to plant a kiss on his cheek. "Thats because I only have eyes for you."

As they walked down the hallway to Peeta's apartment, she let out a heavy breath. "What?" He asked, fumbling with his keys.

"All I wanna do is jump your bones and order chinese takeout," she said, leaning against the door frame.

"Maybe later," he said as he pushed the door open. She gave him a confused look, but was interrupted when he flicked on the lights.

"SURPRISE!" Twenty or so of Peeta and Katniss' closest friends and family jumped out from behind the shadows, holding up a big banner that read "Happy Birthday!"

Her jaw dropped open as she surveyed the faces in the crowd. She immediately spotted Prim, and her mother who was lurking in a corner. Finnick, Annie and Johanna were holding the sign up, while Madge and Gale stood by a table full of food. Even Rye, Peeta's younger older brother (who she had to admit was the funniest Mellark) had managed to come through. The rest were casual friends the pair had met through work and travels.

Peeta expected a punch on the arm, but was pleasantly surprised when he felt Katniss tug him down for a kiss. "Thank you Peeta," she said into his lips.

Gale pressed play on his iPod, music blasting throughout the house. "Let's get this party started!"

She went around the party happily with Peeta by her side, greeting and thanking everyone for coming. She noticed everyone was wearing strange shirts, but was too busy tasting all of the great desserts Peeta had made for the party. She did not notice however, how everyone had been giving her sly glances all night.

Peeta turned down the music to get everyone's attention. "I think its time for a group picture, no?" Katniss started to walk to the group, but Peeta stopped her and turned her around. "Wait, Katniss. You've got something in your teeth," he said while glancing over her head. Everyone was still scrambling into place.

She ran her tongue over her teeth. "Did I get it?"

"Not quite," he said. Only when everyone was assembled did he tell her, "Got it." She smiled at him, and turned back around to continue to join the picture.

When she saw everyone standing together, she stopped in her place. Everyone was wearing a shirt with a letter on it, but what was more important was what it spelled out.

As her brain tried to process the phrase, "Will you marry me," she turned back to him. He was on one knee, holding out a velvet box with a pearl ring sitting inside. While she looked at him in shock, he tried to refrain from rubbing the back of his neck.

"Katniss Everdeen, you are the love of my life. When I met you for the first time in my bakery, I knew you were the person I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. I'm going to save you the big long speech because I remember a few years ago you said you thought those were dumb, plus I'm so nervous I just forgot everything I was going to say. So to get to the point, will you marry me?"

He saw her face get red, and got nervous when tears started to form in the corner of her eyes. She held a hand over her open mouth, and slowly nodded her head. He let out a breath he didn't know he was holding.

"Yes, Yes, yes. A million times yes!" She exclaimed, and the whole room clapped and shouted their congratulations. He slid the ring on her finger with shaky hands, and she immediately pulled him from the floor to embrace him.

He rubbed her back, and bent down to whisper in her ear. "I'm sorry I made you cry this year."

She laughed, the tears coming harder. "It's ok. This time, I really don't mind."


End file.
